


In Hushed Whispers: The Appendices

by gwap_queen



Category: Elder Scrolls
Genre: Angst, Cameos, Fluff and Angst, Multi, Shameless Smut, Side Story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:47:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27840235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwap_queen/pseuds/gwap_queen
Summary: Ever hear of the song that bards don't sing? Well, these are the stories that most never hear; the types of stories closely guarded, and only told in hushed whispers beside the tavern fire - if they're ever told at all.Series of one-shots. Multiple Pairings. Disconnected, but mostly canon. Some explicit, but not all. Rated M for a reason.
Relationships: Aela the Huntress/Skjor, Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Farkas, Undecided, multiple
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Thrill Of The Hunt

**A/N: Hello, and welcome to the first of my series of one-shots. A few quick points:**

**This collection is something I’ve been wanting to post alongside my main work, A Warrior Rises, and all installations of The Appendices can be taken as canon in Merrin’s world, unless I state otherwise.**

**These works will feature a BUNCH of different people, with pairings of all different kinds! I will also be open to requests and ideas, going forward - there’s plenty of love to go around.**

**Chapter Pairing: Aela x Skjor**

**And that’s all, for now! Enjoy.**

* * *

**Thrill Of The Hunt**

It was the third time in a row she’d struck out ahead, and picking up his pace this time had caused him to trip on a rock. Shaking his head, he cursed.

‘Wait up, damn it!’

‘ _Keep_ up,’ was her dry response.

‘That’s easy for you to say _now_.’

‘What’s the matter? Tired, after all that running?’

He growled at that, and the sound invaded the quiet clearing  they’d entered . ‘Quiet’ was relative, of course; he could hear all of the little things stirring in the brush around them. Many went still, at the sound of that growl.

But when she turned around to face him, she had that sly grin – the one that always got him – and he couldn’t help but bark a laugh.

‘You minx.’

G ods, but she was a sight. She was  _always_ beautiful, but  moonlight made her piercing. It turned her freckled skin to glowing ivory, and her hair to silver and fire. Her eyes arrested him as she stalked back towards him, and in the shimmering green, he could easily see them both; the woman, and the beast.

Only years of knowing her let him recognize that the two words had provoked her. She stopped a hand’s breadth away from him, and squarely met his gaze. As always, he could feel the heat rolling off her body, spilling into the air between them, and smell her scent – raw and heady and lush. She tipped her head, eyes narrowing, and he swallowed.

‘I’m a lot more than that, and you know it.’ Her eyes held his for another beat, and then dropped down to his chest, still damp with cooling sweat. She smirked.

‘Maybe I just like watching you chase me.’ And then before he could move a muscle, she ducked forward to lick a wide, wet stripe up his chest, to his collarbone, which she nipped none-too-gently. 

It was a brisk autumn night – not much longer before they’d have snow. But his blood still surged and ran hot at the feel of her tongue on his skin. Going rigid, he grabbed her, and dug his fingers into  both of  her arms. His voice came out  rough and hard .

‘Aela.’ It was half praise, half warning. But all she did was arch a brow. The sly smile was back now, in force. His woman knew the lay of the land. She slid both hands up, over his abdomen, over his pecs, slow and deliberate, leaving a trail of gooseflesh in her wake – and then she briskly jerked her arms apart, breaking free of his grip. 

‘What? Come on, you’re holding us up. I _told_ you to keep up, didn’t I?’ 

Just like that, she turned around  and started to walk away again, towards where they’d left their clothes. But clothes had left his mind entirely. His eyes raked their way down her naked back, down her ass and her legs. He was breathing hard through his nose, but barely noticed.

I t drove him mad when she got like this, which  _gods_ knew was often enough.  Conniving.  Running h ot, and yet cool. Pretending like she didn’t give a damn, even as she spurred him on.  They hadn’t caught anything tonight, and he was already restless over it.

As if she could read his mind, she chose  _then_ to look back from her place between the trees. And her eyes danced with mirth as she looked him over,  before settling low.

‘Ah. _Not_ so tired after all, I see.’

That was it – all it took, to snap his control. Years of a soldier’s training did  _nothing_ for him, when it came to her. They barely even took the edge off.

A sound came from him that he didn't recognize, and his hands spread out wide like claws as his entire body tensed. His beast, so quick to rise, started pushing against his senses, and he let it. His throat was so tight that his next words came out low, and were hard to get out.

‘You like when I chase you? Well, you’d better run.’

That was all the warning she was getting. He plunged toward her, and got a feral jolt of satisfaction at her response. She didn’t scream –  she didn’t make a sound. He expected no less . But her nostrils flared while her eyes widened,  and her hair flew out in a fan  from her shoulders when she whirled around and  fled . 

_Yes._

S he flew like an arrow shot from her bow, flitting between the trees with ease. But man and beast were working in tandem, as they chased their prey. There was no prize better in these woods than the one that taunted them now – they  _wouldn’t_ lose.  They could smell the jagged excitement pulsing from her – not fear, but something kin to it.

He didn’t know how long they ran. But he  _did_ know the moment that  promised his victory . The ground beneath her changed from flat to uphill, and as her muscles pumped  to adjust, he  sealed the gap that she’d widened. He tackled her to the loamy forest floor  with something like a roar of triumph.

‘ _Damn_ you!’ She swore, squirming furiously beneath his half-hold, lithe and strong, and managed to flip around and face him. She was breathing hard, and the words came out in a gust.

‘You – _cheated_ – !’

His senses were razor sharp now, and he  _heard_ more than saw the foot that came whistling out to connect with his head. He caught it in one hand, using the other to pin her free thigh to the forest floor, and gave a short, wild laugh.  He was panting nearly as hard as she was.

‘Nice try, kitten.’

He knew that name drove her crazier than anything else, and this time was no different; if she’d been angry before, now she was spitting fire. A shrieking growl tore free from her chest, and he had to lean back to avoid getting his eyes gouged by her fingers curled like claws. But she couldn’t get free  with no leverage , and he took one second to savor the reaction before turning his attention to the legs in his  hands . He bit that pale, perfect skin just above where he gripped her ankle, over and over again,  trailing up the calf,  not caring to be gentle. The hand pinning her to the ground began kneading harshly at her inner thigh.

And Aela responded. She  tried not to give him the satisfaction, but there was no hiding from his roving eyes. She  went rigid underneath him,  her lower back arched, and she let out one hard, low moan before stifling it with bitten lips. The sound was music to his ears, and only spurred him on.

‘I didn’t cheat.’ His voice was rough, and a little biting.

‘And you know it. I caught you because I _can_. I’ll _always_ catch you.’

Aela moaned again, but shook her head fiercely. The smell of her arousal hit him like a wall, momentarily blotting out everything else, and it all but drove him wild.  Above him, her clenched fists  beat the forest floor. 

‘You b-bastard.’

‘Again with the names, Aela?’ It felt like tearing off his own arm, but he leaned forward, further away from the source of her smell. He used his weight to pin down her lower half, erection grinding almost painfully against her hip, and used his newly-freed hands to collect her wrists and pin them to the ground – not that she made it easy. He took a second to get adjusted while she growled and cursed beneath him, and then looked down with feral satisfaction at the breasts laid out bare in front of his face. They were _perfect_ breasts, just the right size and shape, with big dark nipples and a dusting of freckles over unblemished ivory, and they’d owned him from the first time he’d seen them. Her nipples had hardened to two stiff peaks, and he bit off a groan at the sight of them, taking another second to rein himself in. When he finally spoke again, his voice was measured.

‘If you insist.’

F inally, he let himself lower his head, and laved her left nipple with his tongue in a long, hard stroke. He followed that with another. And another. But he wanted more. So he sucked the entire thing into his mouth, and revelled in the sound she made.

He worked her, suckling and biting,  switching from breast to breast until she was writhing underneath him and letting out a near constant stream of gasps and moans. At some point, she wormed her wrists free of his caging hands, but she didn’t use them to strike at him. It wasn’t that she’d forgiven him his victory – far from it. She dragged the nails of one hand down his back so hard he hissed at the pleasure-pain, while the other buried itself in his hair and yanked  mercilessly .  From between gritted teeth, she ground out a few words.

‘You...self..satisfied... _ass_...’

The wolf inside him bristled at this; she was _his_ , and needed to acknowledge when he had her. She was _so_ _competitive._ He needed to remind her who was on _top_.

Agreeing with his beast, he doubled down on his ministrations – biting her hard enough to make her yelp, and then sucking her so fiercely into his mouth that she cried out louder than ever, and dug all of her nails into his shoulders. After another long moment, he pulled away with a wet, sucking sound and looked up at her, grey eyes ablaze.

‘Enough shit. You can call me whatever you want. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re _mine_. Now, I want you to say my _name_.’ He took in a harsh, sharp breath. ‘Say the name of the man that has you.’

Aela’s cheeks and chest were deeply flushed, but her eyes were defiant as ever as she shook her head, and hit him with that maddening look – almost a smirk, if it weren’t so stubborn.

‘I won’t.’

The beast inside him howled. Looking down at her, he gnashed his teeth. His cock was so hard pinned against her that he thought it would explode. The defiance pushed him on – but he needed her to obey.

‘You _will_. Damned stubborn woman. My name – _say_ it. Look me in the eyes, and say it!’

‘No.’

A low growl tore its way free of him, and he moved without thought; dragging himself further up, he clamped his teeth down onto where her shoulder joined her neck  and bit there, once, twice, before sucking  the flesh furiously into his mouth and making her choke on a moan. It would bruise, but neither of them cared. His ears were ringin g with the want of her, and he couldn’t register anything else – until a sharp pain at his own shoulder had him rearing back on a shout.  _She_ had bitten  _him_ , so hard that she’d nearly broken through the skin. When he looked down at her  through his haze , her eyes were as bright and as hard as emeralds, and she snarled. 

‘I _won’t!_ You gods-damned ignorant, insufferable _man!’_ She sucked in a breath, and bared her teeth.

‘You think because you know what I like that you’ve got me right where you want me. Think again! I bow to _no-one_.’ 

Lust and love and fury balled so tight inside of him that he thought he would tear.  _This woman was going to kill him._

He let out a snarl of his own and wrapped one hand around her throat, pinning her head to the forest floor, squeezing a bit harder than he probably should’ve. The result was a blast of desire from her, so overwhelmingly strong that it made his vision spot. He lowered his face to within an inch of hers – unbeknownst to him, the pure silver of the beast had crept in to ring his pupils, and seeing it made her tremble. His throat was so tight he could barely grind out the words.

‘I don’t... _need_ you..to bow. But you _will_..say my name...before I’m done with you.’ _He needed it._

He rocked back onto one elbow, leaving her gasping as he let her go, and then scrambled up onto his knees. His cock came springing into the space between them, throbbing torturously, and he gasped. She made as if to rise beneath him, and he growled as he put one hand in the middle of her chest and shoved, pinning her down again. The difference in their size allowed him to hold her firmly in place, _and_ turn his attention down below.

If he didn’t get some relief, he was going to lose it. Staring at her flushed face and heaving chest beneath his hand, he wrapped the other one around his aching cock and jerked it roughly, once, twice, three times. He let out an explosive oath on a breath he hadn’t known he was holding, and gritted his teeth as every muscle in his stomach went taut. Her eyes were riveted to his cock, and seeing it nearly made him come undone. His hand trembled as he let himself go, and he rocked back onto his heels. Finally, he allowed himself to look at her centre.

He could tell just by _looking_ that she was soaking wet, and it was all he could do to keep himself from burying his head between her legs and refusing to surface until she was screaming. Instead, he took a few deep breaths, and nodded.

‘I’ll remind you who you’re dealing with.’

He popped the first two fingers of his right hand into his mouth, and watched as hers dropped open.

‘You _like_ getting chased, remember?’ He growled. ‘Well, _I_ caught you.’

Those fingers slid between her folds, parting her dark red curls, before he drove them right where he wanted them.

She was _soaked_ , and the tight walls of her wet heat clamped around him as her back arched off the ground. He’d been rough, not giving her a chance to adjust, and man and beast alike crowed internally at the loud, graceless ‘ _h_ _unh!’_ that escaped her. Instantly, he pulled them out most of the way, and then rammed them home again. Her legs went rigid on either side of him, and then they fell open.

He wasn’t giving her a second to catch her breath. Gritting his teeth against his own pleasure, he grunted as he worked her hard and fast, thick fingers pumping to the rhythm of instinct, and long years of practice. Aela writhed beneath him, beating the ground with her fists as she panted and moaned. Her brows were drawn in low when he snatched a glance, and her flushed expression was torn. Releasing her lip from between her teeth, she threw her head back on a groan.

‘Oh... _oh!_ Ye...Sk— _nngg_...’

_Aha! So close._ His head whipped back up to look at her, and he hit her with a feral grin.

‘Hmm? _What_ was that, kitten?’

‘ _N-nothing.’_ She ground the word out between her teeth, eyes flashing anew as she glared at him, and struggled against his hand on her chest as if she were going to rise.

A possessive surge ripped through him at that, and in a flash he was on his knees, using the leverage to keep her pinned. He growled as he pressed her down harder, both taunting and frustrated.

‘It didn’t _sound_ like nothing.’ Seamlessly, without breaking his pace, he brought his thumb up to rest on the bundle of nerves above her entrance, and bore down. She cried out like a wounded animal, and he bared his teeth.

‘ _Say_ it.’ The _or else_ hung plainly between them.

But she shook her head – _again_ , _damn her! –_ and hissed out a jagged breath, sparks still flying from her eyes as they locked with his.

‘Make me.’

The words were fire, licking a hot trail down his spine, and he shuddered; it was almost as if his change had gripped him. Nothing on _Nirn_ drove him half as crazy as this woman. Oh _\- oh!_ He would make her.

He reapplied himself then with something close to frenzy; grunting with every forceful slam of his fingers, and swirling his thumb hard and fast over that stiff little nub. She gasped _loud_ underneath him, and her hands came scrabbling up the arm that held her to the ground, digging her nails into him so sharply that he cursed. The smell of her was maddening, and he lurched forward to dip his head down closer. He couldn’t let himself taste her – not yet. Instead, he licked a hot, wet path from the edge of her curls to her navel, and then bit his way back down. This had her bucking beneath him, keening, and then cursing on an inhale sharp as glass.

He could _smell_ it on her, as she neared the edge; could feel it in the way she clenched around him, and the knowledge of it had him leaking, his scent mingling with hers around them. Groaning, he looked up at her face, and finding her already staring at him had his balls going tight. His words came out on such a growl that they were hard to make out.

‘ _This_ is what you get – for toying with me.’

He hadn’t meant to push her over yet, but apparently that did it. Aela gave a strangled cry, the familiar stunned look coming over her face, and her green eyes rolled back into her head as she shook from top to toe beneath him. The rush of it hit him like a solid wall, but he didn’t stop, didn’t let up. He worked her until she was writhing like a snake, all but wailing from it.

But still, he didn’t hear her say it.

He pulled his fingers free, and she collapsed where she laid in the dirt, chest heaving as if she’d run for miles. Neither his beast or his longing would let him be, and he shuddered with a mixture of anger and ecstasy. Rising slowly to his knees, he straddled her waist, and looked down at his handiwork.

She was crumpled and panting beneath him, glistening with sweat – the smell of it added tang to the heady air. Her hair was a wreath of flame around her head, and the eyes that locked onto his were burning just as bright. Slowly, deliberately, he showed her the fingers that were coated with her; bringing them inches away from her face, and shooting her a feral grin. The message was clear – _see what I do to you?_

Aela held her silence, but her jaw was now firmly set. Just as slowly as he’d lowered it, he raised the hand up to his own face. Making sure her eyes never strayed from his, he slid those fingers into his mouth, and sucked them clean. The taste of her was almost more than he could stand. A small sound escaped her throat as she watched him, and both things acted as fuel to his fire.

He wouldn’t stop, until he got what he needed.

‘Still nothing?’ He forced himself to break away from her gaze, and raked his eyes over her glowing body instead. ‘Have it your way, then.’

He cupped both hands under her arms, and with little effort he was pulling her out from beneath him. She squawked as he rose with her in his grip, and again when he drew her tight against him and started walking.

‘What are you – ?’

He barked a short, dark laugh. ‘That was just the _beginning_.’

She clung to him with trembling limbs as he moved, and it stroked his ego as well as his cock. His woman liked playing hard to get...but he worked hard enough.

He picked the nearest tree that looked like it would do, and walked her right into it – not _too_ hard, but not gentle, either. Aela let out a guttural moan as the rough bark connected with her back; partly from the bite of pleasure-pain it caused, and partly squeezed from her by the weight of him. She felt a fresh burst of arousal, and the smell of it clouded them both. He bit the tender column of her neck, and when she swore, it was almost a sob.

‘ _Fuck!’_

‘I plan to, kitten. Don’t you worry.’ She could feel his smile as he bit her again, and that combined with him twisting her nipple and calling her _kitten_ had her growling and yanking his hair.

‘You’re _such_ a – ’

‘Bastard. I know.’ He cut her off, and then bit her collarbone, drawing out another gasp.

‘But I’m a bastard with a _name_. And I’m not giving you what you want until you _say it._ ’

He pulled ever so slightly away from her then, but only for a second. Gripping where her thighs met her ass, he hoisted her higher up the trunk, and then pinned her with his pelvis. They were at eye-level this way, and the huntress ignored the throb of her clit where it brushed against his abdomen – or, did her best to. Taking the deepest breath she could, she glared at his wolfish expression.

‘And if I say I don’t want anything?’

‘Then I’ll call you a little liar.’ He met her glare with one of his own, and drew in close – close enough that she could try to bite him. It wouldn’t be the first time, or the last.

‘I _know_ you want it. I can smell it. I can _feel_ it. Here...’ He ducked his head down to drag his teeth over her chest, directly over her pounding heart. While he couldn’t see, Aela squeezed her eyes shut, and bit her lip.

‘And _here_. Just _throbbing_ away.’ He whispered the last, his voice ragged with need, and looked back up at her as he pulled away enough to snake a hand down to her centre. He felt her whole body tense when he touched her again, rude and teasing, and she hissed as her cheeks flamed anew.

‘Yeah.’ He grinned, feral and wicked. ‘That’s what I thought. Why don’t you ever make it easy on yourself?’ _Or on me?_ This last he only thought, when his cock gave another aching twinge.

‘And give you the satisfaction?’ She tossed her head, gnashed her teeth. ‘I don’t think so.’

_So stubborn..._ ‘Then we’ll do it the hard way,’ he growled. And bore down mercilessly on her clit.

He knew his woman. He knew she wanted more; knew it from the way she cursed and moaned, bucked her hips and clawed at his shoulders. But he held back. She owned him often enough – this time, _he_ was in charge.

He was trying so hard to make her beg, that he didn’t notice one hand leave his back – until she managed to grab his cock with it and try to spear herself on it. He _howled_ at the feeling of her gripping him, tugging him, and when she bit his chest, he nearly came in her hand. It took everything he had to wrench her wrists up over her head and pin her firmly back to the tree before he spent himself. When he met her frustrated gaze with burning eyes, he was breathing like a bull.

‘Not so fast. When will it sink in? You get it when _I_ say so.’

She laughed at that, sly and biting – provoking. ‘We’ll see about that.’

A savage light burned in her eyes as she said it, the light that he’d fallen to years ago. Before he could think of a reply, she started to move. Silky and languid, pure seduction, she pushed and slid against him, wrapping her legs tight around him. She was soaking wet, and burning hot, and the soft slide of her centre against his hip nearly buckled his knees. His breath left him in a rush through gritted teeth, and his head fell back as he swore.

‘Gods _damn_ it, woman! Damn you! You’re killing me, and you _know_ it!’

She looked at him coolly, with heavy-lidded eyes, and smirked.

‘I don’t know what you mean.’ Another velvet slide of her hips.

‘It’s not _my_ fault, if you can’t handle me.’

A roar of sound swept over him then, as something in man and beast alike both snapped.

_ Can’t handle? Can’t - !!  _ Words failed him, even internally,  and a snarling roar came ripping from his chest.  _ That was it. _

He  dropped her wrists, only to grab the backs of her knees where they locked around his sides and rip them apart. Shoving them back, he drove them roughly into the tree and pinned them there, hoisted nearly parallel with her shoulders. She yelped at the sudden force, and he snarled again – it served her right. She was  _ wide _ open for him now, and he couldn’t stand another second’s wait.  He took the barest pause just to line things up, and then on the next jagged breath he was  _ slamming _ into her – burying himself to the hilt.

They both shouted  as he drove himself home, and the sound rang through the surrounding forest, but neither of them  _ really _ heard it.  A white-hot heat  rushed over him , and for a second there was absolutely nothing but the feeling of  _ finally _ being joined .  Then fragments of it came rushing back – the smell, the bite of bark under his fingernails, the sound of her low, shaking moan. The  claw ing frustration. 

He pulled nearly all the way out, only to bury himself again, and drink in the hitching groan she gave. The feeling of her heat wrapped around him – there were no words for it. Countless times he’d been here, and still never gotten used to it. He couldn’t help the ragged curse that slipped from him. Or the long moan, when she clenched down on him from all sides, as if to drag him in further.

‘Gods damn it!’

‘Damn it _yourself_ ,’ was her panted reply.

The words shocked him with a fresh surge of anger and lust, and he rolled his hips hard, making her gasp. It was time to claim the prize. She’d locked her arms around his neck, trying to pull him in closer, and now he obliged her. Hitching her legs up over his shoulders, he dug his fingers into the globes of her ass and clamped his teeth down over her pulse point, bearing down on her as he settled into a hard, driving rhythm.

S ome thought came back to him, as the air filled with guttural sounds and the slap of flesh on flesh.  Mostly questions, fleeting and frustrated. 

_ When had the tables turned? How did she always do this to him?  Why did he always have to fight, to be on top? _

But deep down, he knew why. Some small part of him admitted it –  _ exalted _ it – even as he ground her into the tree and punished her for it. 

It was who she was. His woman didn’t lie down and beg, and neither did her beast. Her nature drove her to fight, to claw, to  _ claim _ , with just as much fury as his did. It was why he loved her so; Aela was her own.

An unbearably hot, tight heat was starting to gather in his groin, and feeling it tinged his wild thoughts with the edge of despair.

It wasn’t  _ enough.  _ He knew he’d never  _ own  _ her. That was fine – that was right. But she was still his, and he  _ needed _ to leave a mark – one she would acknowledge.

‘Aela.’ He ground out her name, and slowed his rough pace ever so slightly as he pulled back to look at her. She was stunning – a vision in the dappled light, with jewel green eyes alive with passion and her hair a wicked tangle. She met his gaze head-on and held it boldly, even as she panted and let her head fall back against the trunk with a thud. 

‘What?’

The smell of her was inescapable, making his  own  head spin.  But it was feeling her tremble in his arms that drove him to say the words, panted  in time to their thrusts .

‘ _Please_ ,’ he groaned. ‘Say it, say it! I _need_ you to say my name – it only means anything coming from you. I’m yours. You win.’ And on that last word, he closed the gap between their faces and caught her mouth with his. 

He poured everything he had into this kiss; passion, desperation, awe and anger. Love. Need.

And she responded. She cried into his mouth, a sound that went  straight to his cock, and  _ raked _ her nails down his back so hard that he knew it would draw blood. The smell of it hitting the air a second later  only spurred him on. Thrusting his tongue into her mouth, he gave her ass cheeks a merciless squeeze and plunged into her,  as  deep as he could go .

S he  _ seized _ around him, going rigid against him, and then he felt her walls  flutter and spasm as she came apart a second time. It thrilled him to feel her buck against him, knowing  _ he _ was the one to make her feel so fucking  _ good _ , and his own thrusts went wild and erratic as he just barely managed not to lose it. A fresh wave of her scent battered him,  and the feeling of her release pooling around him brought him to the edge.

And then she did it. She’d broken away from the kiss, panting and all but sobbing from the pleasure, and  had  pulled his chest flush against hers, hands  clinging to the back of his neck and pulling at his hair. She threw her head back in wild abandon,  letting it hit the tree behind them, and howled it to the moons: his name.

‘Ah – _ah – Skjo-o-or!!!’_

J ust like that, he was finished. The roaring wave of his climax hit him like a wall of fire, and man and beast alike let out a yell of triumph, anguish, ecstasy. His long-tortured cock gave one final throb,  as it shot out a rope of hot, thick seed. And then another. He shuddered and groaned from the force of it – so much pleasure, it was almost pain – and she shook  right along with him. His vision faded to nothing but black, as the pulses wracked his body.

After what felt like a lifetime, they finally went still,  save for chests  that heaved as they clawed for breath. His ears were ringing  again ; when his sight came swimming back, the first thing he saw was her green eyes staring at him. Gingerly, he slid her knees from his shoulders – making her groan at the shift  as he slid out of her –  and hoisted her up by her thighs instead. Feeling like a rag wrung dry, he dropped his sweaty forehead down to hers, and gusted a sigh.

‘You said it.’ His heart was beating madly in his chest – but it had also fallen at her feet.

In the new relative hush surrounding them, Aela  _ tsked _ . And then smiled at him, with mouth and eyes alike.

‘You _are_ mine, it’s true. But I’m also _yours._ No one knows me better. I love you.’

_ I’m also yours. I love you.  _ He let the words echo as they sunk in deep, satisfying man and beast in the way that nothing else could,  and feeling his heart soar . 

They weren’t words that the pair exchanged often – but they didn’t have to. Even unspoken, they were always there.

His. His woman. His Aela. His mate.  A smile of his own broke across his weathered face, and he bumped his nose into hers and rubbed, as he gave her thighs a squeeze.  Her claw marks on his back were stinging now, but he didn’t care.

‘I know you do.’ Feeling suddenly lighter than air and unable to help himself, he chuckled.

‘Gods only know why.’

She snorted a laugh and swatted at his back, before nipping his lower lip between her teeth and giving a tug  that turned into another heated kiss . When they  eventually broke apart, that same slyness  was playing over her features. She shot him a grin that was a hint feral and rolled her hips once, making him growl,  before pushing at him so he’d let her down. 

She slithered down the gnarled tree-trunk, bare feet crunching fallen leaves as she landed, and gave a supple, satisfied, feline stretch. Then she took his hand in one of her own, and took a single step forward.

‘I know exactly why. There’s nothing like having a mate who can always keep up with you.’

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**What did you think? Leave a review, and let me know!**


	2. Safe Haven

**Chapter Pairing: Jon Battle-Born x Olfina Gray-Mane**

**Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort. NSFW.**

**A stolen moment of peace between two forbidden lovers. War and hardened hearts make every day difficult, but they dream of a future where they’ll finally have peace.**

**A vignette proving that it’s often about the small things.**

* * *

**Safe Haven**

The room was wrapped in a wonderful hush, and as he laid on his back in the feather bed, he revelled in the peaceful quiet.

It had been months since he’d been here, but hardly anything had changed. It was still as clean and neat as a pin. The same colorful rag-rug laid on the floor; the same dried wreathes and needle-works adorned the pale walls. It still smelled like her – honey soap and the lavender she loved, mixed with the scent that was only her. The scent that hooked right into his chest, and set him aching for her.

Being here made him feel as if he was wrapped up in her, surrounded by her. And he revelled in that as much as he did the quiet. He could hear the faintest sounds of the city outside, far away on the street below. But here, they couldn’t touch them.

Here and here alone, they didn’t have to hide.

‘Jon? What are you thinking about?’

The sound of her voice was soft and sweet as a bird’s as it broke into his reverie, and even just that was enough to make his cock give a lazy jolt from beneath the quilt he’d pulled up to their waists. It’d been a mere handful of minutes ago that they’d been tumbling over the bedspread, joined and sweating and frantic – but that never mattered. His body’s thirst for her seemed to be as insatiable as his heart’s.

Sighing, he smiled and looked down at her. Olfina was nestled against his side, resting her head atop his arm, and the fingers of one slender hand were drawing idle circles through the hair on his chest, as was often her wont. They’d drawn the curtains, like always, but it was a bright day outside, and the pale linen had light splashing through it enough to bathe the room. It caught and gleamed in her silver hair, and made flawless the lovely cream of her freckled skin. Her cheeks and chest were flushed a soft rose from contented exertion, and seeing it drew another sigh from somewhere deep.

‘Oh...not too much, Fina.’ Tenderly, he caught the hand with the circling fingers in his own much bigger one, and drew it up and across to his face, so he could plant it with an open-mouthed kiss.

As clear and chiming as a bell, she giggled. ‘ _That_ good, huh?’

His smile tugged wider at the corners, and he snorted. ‘Always. And you know it.’  Then he shrugged, ever so slightly jostling her in the crook of his arm.

‘And I guess I was just thinking how it feels sort of strange, to be back here after so long.’

S he squeezed his fingers linked with her own, and nodded against his chest.

‘I know what you mean. But it’s a good strange, you know?’

‘Definitely.’ He thought of where they’d been spending the last several months, and had to fight back a shudder. The first cold touch of dark, familiar anger brushed against the edges of their light-washed room, and he pushed it ruthlessly away. 

B ut she must have felt him tense, because she rose up onto one forearm to look at him, and the pale blue eyes that roved his face were  a bit sad, and full of knowing.

‘I understand.’ 

Of course she did. Instinctively she unlinked their hands, and reached hers back and around his hip. She headed for the dark and angry bruises that scrawled his lower back. And he let her, leaning slightly into her to give her better access. Her fingers were cool and feather light as they touched him, and they brought only relief – no pain. He hissed out a jagged breath as she touched him, but she understood that, too, and murmured his name on a soft hushing sound before leaning forward to drop a kiss at his hairline.

She’d seen the bruises yesterday, not long after he’d received them, and had brought up herbs from the Mare’s root cellar to make something for his pain. He’d watched her mash them in a mortar into sticky green paste, biting her lips with tears in her eyes, while everyone focused on him. And this afternoon when they’d tumbled into bed, she’d taken great pains not to bump them with her heels.

That was just her – soft. Sweet.  He looked up again at the slender young woman stretched out above him, staring at him so tenderly as she touched him; his sweet Olfina. A woman who’d been named for a man who couldn’t be more different than her if he tried. 

_Not that his father_ ever _tried._

_Stop it._ Squeezing his eyes shut, he shoved at the sticky, needling thought, and the surge of anger, stronger than the first.  _Not here. Not on our time._

When he opened his eyes again, they locked with hers. She was staring right at him, and he bit off an oath.

‘I’m sorry,’ he half whispered, half croaked, and gritted his teeth. ‘I’m sorry. I hate bringing him here.’

‘You have nothing to apologize for, Jon.’ Her voice was soft, balm on his nerves. ‘He’s a part of you. And you deserve better. We can talk about it, if you want to.’

He didn’t – he did. He reached up to tuck a thick chunk of silver hair behind the shell of her ear, and wrestled with himself. Then he sighed, and gave in. He could _alway_ s talk to her.

‘It’s just been hard – you know. I’ve hated the way we’ve had to do things lately...hate bringing you anywhere _near_ him.’

Since Avulstein had come home to stay, their usual routine had been in shambles, and they’d had to meet in _his_ family home, instead. It had been hard, in more ways than one, and he blanched at some of the memories: having to shim his door because his lock had long since been broken, and sneak through his window like a fugitive when he was sure nobody would notice. Having to sneak Olfina back through the same window, and twice she’d nearly fallen from the trellis. They’d taken to him propping her on top of his dresser for a quick, desperate fuck, with his hand clamped over her mouth, because he knew his bed frame made too much noise, and the dresser was farthest from the door. Afterward they’d lay fully clothed on the floor, tangled in each other’s arms and listening as quiet as mice, listening, listening for any sounds other than their breath and heartbeats. It was _dangerous_ ; too many times they could’ve been caught, and while he didn’t know what his father would do if he found Olfina in that house, he knew it wouldn’t be good.

Thinking of the possibilities made bile rise in the back of his throat, but he had no choice but to swallow it down, as he’d been doing for months. Because _they_ had no choice – for a while after her brother came home, they’d stopped meeting up. It had been nothing short of torture. And then Olfina had come to him, in tears and begging, and he hadn’t been able to deny her. Neither of them could give it up. So they’d kept playing cloak and dagger. And the fear had choked him, all the while.

He realized he’d lost himself in thought, and came jerking back with a shake of his head before he pulled her closer. All of a sudden he was wracked with the need to feel her safe and whole, and his heart had started to pound in his chest. His next words came out dark and cold.

‘I’d _kill_ him if he ever laid a finger on you.’

‘Hey.’ She gave a soft cluck of her tongue. ‘None of that. Look at me.’

He grumbled, and she wove her hand through the hair he’d let down, and gave the blond tresses the gentlest of tugs in her direction.

‘Look at me, Jon.’

When he looked, the expression on her angular face was shrewd, and kind, and loving. It was an expression that urged him to listen, to relax, and just as it always did, it managed to help him do both.

‘I’m alright,’ she soothed. ‘I’m safe. Nothing is happening to me. Your family isn’t going to hurt me. As soon as we can manage it, they won’t be able to hurt you anymore, either.’

Her hand set to stroking through his hair, and once again, his eyes slammed shut. A whimper clawed free from his throat, but he felt no shame as he buried his face in her neck.

It hadn’t always been like this – his family. They’d been normal to start with – happy, even, when he and Idolaf were boys. But then his ma had died with no warning, and it’d driven Olfrid insane.

Now the rest of them seemed at times hardly more than ghosts, and never more than bitter shadows of what they could’ve been.

‘Hulda gave me my week’s pay last night. It was pretty good.’

The rumble of her voice right against his ear jarred him back to the moment, and he squeezed her again before he sighed.

‘That’s good. Afhild gave me mine on Loredas, and ‘Noriath told me to come by the Huntsmen tonight for my cut from the last hunt.’

‘See?’ Olfina cupped the back of his head in her soft hand, and kissed his forehead. ‘Progress. That’s two steps closer. We’re both working hard - eventually we’ll have enough to start our new life, and then things with your family will be over. We’ll _both_ be safe.’

He heard how she was trying to keep her voice light, and a familiar sliver of guilt twisted in his chest.

She was referring, of course, to the plan they’d made. Their ultimate goal – make enough money to leave Whiterun and move to Solitude, where they could start again. They’d talked about it a hundred times: they would find some tiny little house they could afford to make payments on, and in the Chapel of Divines, they’d finally get married. Olfina would start a stand of her own, selling her weaving, and he would go to the bard’s college, free at last to pursue his training. They’d be free from danger, from having to hide, from his family.

But it wouldn’t just be _his_ family, and that was why the guilt gnawed on him. While Olfina’s folk would never accept him, they weren’t like his own, and Olfina felt like she owed them more than a note on her pillow one morning. She didn’t want to abscond in the night, the way he would _have_ to. She wanted to warn her parents and brothers – give them a proper goodbye, and leave with some share of their blessing. Even _knowing_ that she’d never get it, because his name was Battle-Born. But he feared that if she tried, it would ruin all their plans.

It was one of the only things they ever argued about. And he didn’t want to argue now. Cramming down the guilt, he rolled onto his side in the bed to pull her flush against him, and looked down at her with warm, hooded eyes.

‘I appreciate you working hard, Fina. Gods know, it feels like we work _too_ hard.’ He groaned. ‘I’ve missed you _so_ damned much.’

‘I know,’ she sighed. ‘I feel the same.’

‘We waited too long to meet up again.’ With a tiny growl, he kissed her jaw once, twice, three times in a trail. ‘I thought I was going to lose it.’ Another kiss, with a nip at her ear. ‘Go feral, right there at the bar.’

It was nothing but the truth – the danger had them going longer between meetings, pushing their limits, and spending his free time at the Bannered Mare so he could nurse a mead and watch her work was a double-edged sword. This opportunity had fallen in their laps, and they’d barely waited a day after Avulstein left before she’d snuck him into the house. It was reckless, no doubt. But neither of them had been thinking straight. He couldn’t, without her.

She giggled at his words, and then moaned at the feel of his teeth, and the sounds went straight to his cock.

‘We _had_ to wait,’ she groaned, a bit breathlessly. ‘You know we have to be careful. I think some of our neighbours are starting to wonder a bit... _oh_. That reminds me.’ She suddenly sobered a bit, a tiny frown pulling at her full mouth, and she placed a spread hand over his chest.

‘I have to say sorry to Anoriath, next time _I_ see him. I snapped at him the other day.’

His brows furrowed. ‘What? Why?’

‘I was buying some sausage for the week, and he teased me, asking if I was cooking _you_ breakfast. I panicked and told him to mind his own business. I think I hurt his feelings – and I _definitely_ acted suspicious.’ She sighed.

‘I _wish_ I could have you over for breakfast.’

The words and her tone both tugged on his heart-strings, and his breath caught in his throat. Godsdammit, he _hated_ all this sneaking around! Hated what it was doing to them both. What he wouldn’t give, to give his woman what she wanted. Biting off another sigh of his own, he wrapped her up in his arms and nodded.

‘I know you do, love. And what you say about our neighbours, it worries me. But we should try _not_ to worry. All we can do is be more careful. I’ll...’ He swallowed. ‘I’ll come around less at the Mare for awhile, and spend some time at the Huntsmen.’ She didn’t have to say a word for him to know how she felt about that, and he nodded again, with his lips in her silky hair.

‘I know. I hate staying away as much as you do. But it’s for the best. As for Anoriath...try not to mind him. He’s said a thing or two to me lately, as well. I think he just wants to see folks happy. Fancies himself a match-maker.’

She pulled away to look at him, blinking with worry. ‘You don’t think he’s onto us?’

‘I really don’t. So _please_ , love, don’t fret. I’ll just keep more distance for a while...’ They both winced.

‘And we’ll leave the future to its own. For now, it’s a blessing that we have _this_ place back. Your house is so much safer.’

Olfina nodded, but her brow crinkled a bit, and she frowned, and right away he realized how his words sounded. _Idiot!_ Her brother had taken off with no warning or goodbye, one _day_ ago, and here _he_ was saying how glad he was for it. And with Thorald already missing!

‘ _N-not_ that I’m saying I have no care for your brother!’ he said in a rush, fumbling. ‘I don’t think it’s a _blessing_ that he’s gone—’

‘ _Shhhh._ Jon.’ Olfina was already shaking her head, biting her lip.

‘Don’t. I know what you mean. Don’t worry. I’m happy we have our space back too. What you said just hit me, a little. I’m just worried about him.’ _Both of them, now,_ she thought darkly to herself, and gave a tiny, involuntary shiver.

He felt it, and pulled her back into his arms with a soothing, crooning sound, drawing the quilt up around her shoulders and kissing both her cheeks. She slung one leg up over his hip to nestle closer, and he grabbed her by the thigh to draw her in. The svelte, perfect slide of skin on skin had him going hard against her, but he ignored it. Seeking her eyes with his darker ones, he stroked up her side from hip to shoulder, and then rubbed her back in soothing circles.

‘Tell me about it?’

It had been in rushed whispers while she served him lunch that she’d told him Avulstein was gone, and to meet her by the back door two hours after noon. There’d been no time for questions, or explanations; and once they were alone, they’d come crashing together, everything else cast aside.

Not anymore. Now she nodded, and gave a dark little frown as she nestled closer into his side.

‘It was a complete shock. And so _strange_. When da and I came home last night, he was long gone already. Ma was the only one who knew he’d gone.’

He frowned with her, confused.

‘Wha - did he say _why_ he was leaving? And why would your ma let him _go_?’

Olfina sighed, and shook her head. ‘ _That’s_ what’s so strange about it. Apparently while we were all out, a courier came by the house. He had a letter for Avulstein, from his commanding officer at the posting he left – Arrald! When ma went home after – after...’ She faltered, and bit her lip. She didn’t want to say the words, but he understood. Nodding, he urged her on.

‘After my father made his scene. It’s okay, love, go on.’ The memory stung with pain and embarrassment, but he shrugged it off; he’d suffered much worse.

She pecked him on the cheek, feather light, and started up again looking even more troubled.

‘When ma went home, she found Avulstein packing his things. She got it out of him about the letter, but he wouldn’t let her read it – just said that Arrald needed him right away. She _tried_ to stop him going, of course. But he wouldn’t hear it. Said he couldn’t let Arrald down.’

Her pale eyes flashed as he stared at her, and suddenly she shook her head again, looking angry. Her hands had balled up into the quilt.

‘It makes no sense, Jon! What does the Frozen-Heart want with him? Especially _now_? And why would Avulstein _go_? Just _leave_ us behind, without even...without...’

‘Without saying goodbye?’ He finished softly, and in his arms, she nodded. Tears had welled up in her eyes, and the sight of them hit him like a blow. He pulled her flush against him, with her face pressed to his chest. When he crooned a soft apology into her ear, the tears broke into muffled sobs that threatened to break his heart.

‘Oh, love. I know. I know.’ Slowly, he stroked her shaking back.

‘I’m here.’

She didn’t have to explain to him. Their bright little bubble had dimmed some, in her anguish, and he understood it perfectly. Jon didn’t much consider himself a lucky man. But now, he sent up a silent prayer of thanks to Akatosh, that he could be here for his sweet girl, when she needed him. Gods knew, she’d had to be stronger than was fair.

After a minute, her wracking sobs slowed, and eased up enough for her to talk. Olfina stared at him with a red, tear stained face, and shuddered.

‘I’m _scared_ ,’ she cried. ‘That I’ll never – see him again! And _angry_. We – _we’re_ his family. Not the army. How could he just _leave_ when we still don’t even know where...’ Then she whimpered, and started sobbing again.

_Where Thorald is._ Jon sighed, a weary sound, and as he pulled Olfina back into his chest and wrapped himself tightly around her, his insides rang for the umpteenth time with the hollow hatred of war. 

How  _pointless_ it all was! How hideous and gnashing and empty. War was a machine that only took, and never gave. He feared that it had taken Olfina’s brother – or maybe both of them, now. She was far too  _good_ and far too kind and  _far_ too  _young_ to be enduring this kind of pain. They both were – and for what? Blood couldn’t water crops. And war could never  _truly_ bring peace.

‘I’m so sorry, Fina.’ The words sounded foolish in the face of her grief, and he felt useless and small, but he pressed on anyway.

‘I know it hurts, and I’m sorry. I wish there was more I could do for you. For all of you.’

Divines knew, he was trying. It had made him _sick_ to hear his father and brother taunting Fralia about Thorald – like they _knew_ that he was dead. Before the war had turned them all into wolves _,_ Idolaf had been close with the Gray-Mane brothers – closer than he ever was with him. The three of them had grown up close as kin...and now _this_ , thanks to war and hard words. His bruises ached at the memory, and he shoved it aside on an oath.

Olfina pulled away with a ragged sigh, and shook her head at him with eyes full of sorrow.

‘I know you do. And it means so much, just to have you here. I just wish...’ She faltered again, gusting out a breath, and dragged both hands up over her face.

‘What do you wish?’ He would’ve granted her the moons and the stars, if he could.

‘I wish someone would reassure me, and I could believe it. We’ve all been sitting here since Thorald went missing, like we’re made of stone, just holding it together day by day. And now that Avulstein is gone, too...’

She gestured helplessly between them, and bit her lips.

‘I just wish someone would tell me that they’re coming back.’

‘Oh, Fina.’ His heart swelled in his chest, and he took both her hands into his free one, and squeezed them.

‘Don’t give up hope, love. Never give up hope.’ He felt a wave of shame at his own cynicism, and did his best to quash it.

‘I try not to. But it’s hard.’ She sniffled, and returned his squeeze with one of her own. Then she met his eyes directly, and caught his gaze.

‘Jon, do you really think they could both come back?’

For a second, he faltered. Then he took a deep breath, and nodded.

‘I like to think that anything is possible – like the life we want together. Sometimes hoping seems pointless, but it isn’t. I promise you, love, it isn’t. Your family all love each other – ’ Again, he swallowed. ‘ – And that’s beautiful. If the gods are really watching us all, then I think they’ll see that, and lead your brothers back home. Nothing else would be fair. And after everything you’ve all been through, you deserve a fair break.’

And cynicism be damned – he meant every word.

Two tears spilled from Olfina’s shining eyes, and her lower lip quivered as she looked at him.

‘T..thank you,’ she whispered throatily.

He shook his head, and had been about to say she didn’t have to thank him when she abruptly closed the gap between them with a soft, seeking kiss. She was trembling, and he reached around to smooth his hands down her back as his mouth answered hers.

She tasted like honey, warm and sweet, making his head spin, and soon she was deepening the kiss. Wrapping both arms around his neck to twine her fingers in his hair, gliding her hot little tongue over his own, and his erection came roaring to life against her hip in the space of a breath. It wasn’t long before she was rocking against it, causing both of them to moan. She released his hair to drag the nails of one hand down his back, and he groaned into her mouth at the little zips of pleasure.

But when she reached the other hand down and curled it deftly around him, he broke away from their messy kiss, eyes flying open, leaving them both panting.

‘Fina – ’ He sounded ragged and winded to his own ears, like he’d been sprinting, and looked at her with a question in his eyes.

‘Jon.’

Olfina had transformed against him, melted in his arms; she still looked wounded, but gone were the tears. Her face and chest had flushed anew, and her eyes were dark and full of hunger. She squeezed the base of his cock where she’d grabbed it, tearing another gasp from him, and when she spoke again she sounded desperate.

‘Please. Take me again – right now.’

Somewhere in the sudden rush of lust, a tiny part of Jon’s mind shouted a warning.

‘But, Fina – the time...’

‘We still have time,’ she urged, and this time grabbed his shoulders, trying to roll him on top of her.

‘Trust me! _Please_ , Jon. I need you.’

Everything in him swelled hot and heavy at those words – his lust, his love, the heavy cock between his legs. The very blood in his veins.

How he could deny her anything? His sweet, soft Olfina? Before he’d finished thinking it, he knew he couldn’t. And didn’t want to, anyway.

‘Alright. Yes.’

As he rolled her neatly underneath him and planted himself on his knees and elbows, she made a sound of raw relief. She pulled him down by the neck for another fervent kiss, wrapped her legs around his waist, and he shuddered as emotion swept through him.

The world might be a cruel place, but together they’d found safe haven. If this was how she sought comfort from him, he would gladly oblige her, and consequences be damned. Right now, their lives were full of things they wanted, and couldn’t have. But this? This was something he could give her.

So he bore down, sure and steady, making them cry out together – and gave.

* * *

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